Friday, 23 December 2011

I always want to push the boundaries of what people expect in a tournament environment, and this year is no exception!

Core Games will be hosting two 40k events this year. The summer Challenge will go ahead as usual in July, but this event on May 26th and 27th is intended as a 'concept' event. There will be five rounds and fixed army lists, but there alot of changes after that.

The Variable Scoring Method described earlier in the blog will be in use.

8 missions of the possible 20 will be non standard (non of the top tables will use these missions)

At the start of the event the top 20 player on RHQ will form league 1, and the bottom 20 league 2. For the first two rounds the leagues will not play each other, from round 3 the leagues amalgamate into a swiss system

1750 point armys will be used, with access to some Forgeworld units (IA Apoc 2 sec ed only)

These ideas have been given alot of thought, but lack practical application. Give them a try and let me know what you think!

Wednesday, 28 September 2011

I have had the opportunity in recent months to observe and participate in 40k tournaments, and I was disapointed with 'timing out' for all players involved.

To that end, for the next event I run the VSM will be used.

VSM does not change how games of 40k will be played, but is intended to assess players ability and lists.

At the end of turn 5, players work out who has won the game and record the results on their score card. The game continues to turn 6 (no roll to see if the game continues) and repeat the scoring process at the end of the turn. Repeat the process for turn 7. If time is called before the game reaches turn 7, then any remaining turns are scored as a loss for both players. Victory points will be scored based on when the game ends, regardless of turn or phase.

This system will address the issue of 'slow' playing, two and a half hours will be allowed per round at 1500 points. If you cannot complete a game in this time then you are punishing yourself as much as your opponent. The method allows an accurate gauging of players tactics and army list as opposed to their luck on when the game ends.

Please let me know what you think of VSM, as an experiment I am excited to see how this affects scoring!

Monday, 1 August 2011

I am writing this the Monday after the event, having just read all the feedback forms and thread posts. I aim to take all your feedback on board and incorporate improvements for the next event.

Terrain

Thank you for the comments about the quality and variety of the boards and terrain,a good set up can make or break a game for me. For this event four more boards were added with line of sight blocking terrain (larger than 4”) and more scatter added. I am building more LOS blockers but unfortunately they do take a lot of time to make and are hard to store. Some boards were deliberately denser with terrain than others, but eventually every board should be the same standard.

Food

All gamers asked that food should not be included in the price. Fast and pub food was asked for, and most players said they would buy food if it was an option. One player asked for fruit to be available, this wouldn’t be practical although I am happy to arrange all special dietary requests . The table service proved to be popular. One player asked for drinks to be included in the price, but this wouldn’t be possible without a price increase.

Judges

Thank you for the feedback that the judges were polite, easy to find and approachable.

Timings

After last years feedback that players did not have enough time to finish games, timings were changed to allow 2.5 hours per game. There were still complaints that gamers did not finish games in time. With the extended timings there is not enough time between games to allow players any extra time. In future if players think they will over run with time they are to call a judge over. It was found that the annihilation missions were all finished within 2 hours, if this is the second mission on each day then another half hour can be added to lunch. Feedback also suggested that tighter timings are wanted.

1st Round Match Ups

Players have had strong feelings about this both ways. My concern is that a lot of the match ups were friends and played each other regularly. Next year a league will be used for the first two rounds, the highest ranked players in league 1 and those below in league 2. Match ups will then be random for the first round, and swiss chess for the second within the league. For round three onwards both leagues will come together and swiss chess will decide match ups.

Venue

The hall is crowded with 40 people in it, and does heat up fast. The owner has no intention of installing air conditioning. An effort will be made to improve circulation with the use of fans but this will not remove much heat. Players may be asked to vacate the hall between rounds.

Organisation

There are plans to purchase a projector so players don’t have to struggle to see the white board.

Price

Players were happy with the price, although one player did say it was overpriced. The event is priced competitively, and the money made goes back into improving future events.

The Future

The structure of the tournament is sound, but with a little more investment can pull the quality level so much higher.

Sunday, 10 April 2011

At maximum capacity all 40 places have gone, so now its time to gear up and get ready for gaming. There are representatives from the Brighton Warlords, Solent Wargamers, Spiky Club, Southampton Strike Force and the X Legion. So whilst you the player ponder the meta game between these gaming groups I'll be busy building the boards for you to play on.

As each board is built I'll post pics of the layouts on this blog so you can get a feel for what your in for!

Monday, 4 April 2011

With the board in its current state your only about an hour from finishing!

Use a little ochre paint to drybrush the surface. For the best results use the brush in circular motions, this will avoid the streaky finish then will if use the brush in straight lines. Dont worry if some areas are thicker than others, the next step will sort this out.

Blob patches of normal PVA glue over the board, the more random the better. Take your favourite scatter liberally apply over the glued areas, in this case old GW flock. Flock is more hard wearing than static grass as it can be sealed with a little watered down glue. Also adds some variety to all the other boards.

Monday, 28 March 2011

There are many ways to apply a finish to a board to achieve different effects, but this is the most verstatile and hard wearing I've come across.

This rubberised texture paint is simply the best product for basing large terrain and boards. A pot this size can easily cover five boards. I have not been able to find an alternative that I find equal. I apply this liberally on a board, using an old brush to stipple the paint in to place. It will take some time to dry, which I use to spread a fine sand (builders kiln dried) to add further texture.

This is the start point I use for most of my boards, there are many variations I have done and will do. When the paint has dried turn the board on its edge and tap of the sand.

Sunday, 27 March 2011

An important part of running tournaments is having gaming boards for the players! Moving on to 40 player and larger events you need alot of solid, 6x4 sections. This is normally the most asked for item at events, and I'm not going to disapoint!

But if you dont have a van to move them around in, you are going to have problems getting them from B&Q to your home. By cutting them into 3x4 sections, I can fit them into the boot of Golf. I then use batons (available in conveniant lengths), nails and glue to fix them together. The seam is then filled with PVA. Filler does fill with less marks, but will crack when handled.

Saturday, 26 March 2011

Hi, I'm Tony. I run Core Games tournaments, and have been running events like these for several years for local clubs and helped GW with campaign weekends. I find the idea of tournament play fascinating, but was disapointed with the lack of proffessional finish presented by many TO's and withdrawn from the impersonal approach of larger companies. Which led me to my brilliant idea of....

Core Games!

I want to offer dedicated hobbyists and gamers what they want from tournament play. Fantastic set peice boards and terrain, competitive spirit and transparent rulings.

Every week or so I aim to update this log with progress of scenery and board construction, FAQ news, new releases as well as updates on up coming events. Thanks for reading!